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Saturday, January 14, 2017

Bandcamp Bonanza – Heavy New Year

While the
New Year’s celebrations are waning, we’re all hitting the gyms, avoiding the
unnecessary evils in forms of resolutions, over here in bandcamp I have found
myself resolutioning with heavier than normal listening. Don’t get me wrong, I
still like a bit of mellowness, but more than in recent memory the harsher,
more damaging sounds are really hitting home. Here are a few recent albums I
have found to be seriously addictive and been jamming a lot lately.

Dryland – Dryland

First up we
have my proclaimed album of the week at the end of week #1 of 2017. Not
significantly popular as of yet, Dryland bring the heavy, doomy Pacific
Northwest progressive sludge rock to the table on their debut full length. Most
played album through 2017 so far. It’s a rager.

The
massive riffs chop by way of blunt force crushing in all directions with
progressive tendencies and hardcore roots. The vocals scream with infectious
vigor and the bass cleans up the remains with a sweeping groove. Album of the
week 1-6-17.Favorite track: Mirrormaker.

Lizzard
Wizzard has been around a while as evidenced by the support on bandcamp of
their earlier efforts. The Aussies bring a powerful blend of psychedelic doom
metal with elements of stoner and an overall twisted ride of heavy riffs. I
wouldn’t have fell so hard for this perhaps last year at this time, but like I
said the heavy shit is appealing more to me at the moment. This is heavy, but
also maintains a hook that keeps you on you on your toes. It lives up to the
album name if I must mention.

These guys
popped up on my feed and I couldn’t help but take advantage of the price tag on
a series of 4 EPs just put up on bandcamp. When bands do this I can’t help but
assume they are new to Bandcamp and putting up their discography online to
view. Nothing wrong with that. It was confirmed by Steve Janiak of Ripple
Music’s ‘Devil to Pay’ that these guys are old timers and they had played
together 10-12 years ago. He had great things to say about them. Here’s to
hoping they’re actively creating new stuff for us to listen. In the meantime go
check out the aggressive desert rock with big beefy vocals.

This one is
heavy as all hell. Super distorted doomy grooves, chaotic vocals and depressing
lyrics set the stage for a pummeling assault to the senses. Why do I like this?
Because its fucking anniliating to the reality of everyday life. Stoner sludge
that fans of High on Fire should eat up. Like Dryland above, there is a
progressive element in the songwriting structure that I’m a sucker for and
balances out the gruffness in the vocals with an added touch of psychedelic
blues. The riffs churn at doom pace and the fuzz is amplified to maximum
distortion.

This one is
perhaps the least heavy on this series, yet is still heavy as all fuck. I mean
that album title and artwork scream hard and evil. Shadow Giant is more in line
with the stoner/psych crowd with a heavy emphasis on doom. I literally just
discovered this one as I was writing up this feature via the recommendation of
Steve Howe at Outlaws
of the Sun who you should follow for great reviews and recommendations in
the heavy underground. So hot off the press my paypal just alerted me via email
of my recent purchase. I can foresee this one will soon grow into the hearts of
the usual suspect in the heavy doom/stoner/psych scene. The vocals are a lot
more accessible than the others on this list. Very groovy and Southern sludgy
blues oriented. I’m digging it, only one listen in still trying to figure out
what this is comparable to. At the moment all I can say is Shadow Giant have
released a stunning debut album and should appeal to fans in all sectors of the
heavy underground, especially the heavy blues, stoner, doom crowd. Corrosion of
Conformity meets Sleep? Something wicked like that.

That’s it
for round #2 of Bandcamp Bonanza here in the new year (2017). Let us know what
you think. Send in your tunes to the blog for a chance to be heard by our other writers, let us know what’s been rocking your
world. Send me bandcamp codes and I
can promote your shit via bandcamp. Hell, just keep on making ripples and we’ll
help turn them into waves.

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